Week 1 vs. Week 2
The following images/video give a comparison of Week 1 and Week 2. As I mentioned before, the differences are not huge, but they are significant. I think, however, they are all fixable. At the bottom of the page I list some production strategies that I have discovered/found useful in working on PD Movement Lab. Here everything is:
A Still Comparison
A Video Comparison
You should be able to see two differences between Week 1 and Week 2. The first and more obvious difference is the tilt of the camera. The image is a degree or two off. The second, and more subtle difference, is that the camera is not perfectly perpendicular to the book shelf and rug. This smaller issue does not always make a huge difference in video quality, but one way to think of it is that it “breaks the spell” of the video. You become more aware that there is a camera in an apartment filming this. It is like a less extreme version of seeing the shadow of a boom mic in a feature film. You become aware of the “normal” setting behind the camera, instead of being immersed in the experience of whatever you are watching.
Squaring the image makes the shot look more intentional.
You can see in this next video how, by rooting around a bit, I was able to fix the tilt enough to make the video look fine, but it is still not perfect. Watching the adjust should give you a fuller sense of the tilt of the frame.
The couple of videos below feature footage of my mom standing. You can see how in the second week both the table and the couch remained in the shot. My mom’s movements are still clear despite this, but you can see how the table and couch change the feeling of the shot. It’s a but more crowded and haphazard.
While the table and couch posed the biggest problem of the standing shots, the issue of the camera not being squared with the rug also existed in the standing footage. You can see the difference in the alternating images below. I actually think the Week 2 shot of my mom here is quite beautiful. The light is really nice, and without the table and the couch the set looks buoyant. However, the slightly-off squaring makes it look less professional.
Suggestions
(Strategies from my own experience)
1. Make only the most important corrections to each sequence. I generally agree with your instincts Dad, but it sounds like there were so many corrections last week the whole process got bogged down. I constantly have to gauge the trade off between the energy suck of a correction and the potential positive effect of the correction. By focusing on only the most important improvements I find I prioritize what needs to be said, and keep everything moving.
Taking this minimal approach to corrections also improves the production quality of the class. When you are able to capture multiple segments in the same shooting period, it gives the production more shot consistency. If you are filming each segment on a different day, the framing from section to section will be slightly different. This difference can usually be glossed over with a little editing (that’s what I did this past week), but it is still better if the framing from section to section is the same.
2. Follow along with mom by watching the video on the iPhone as you record the footage. This has several positive effects. First (and I say this from personal experience) some of the details you might correct if you were standing and watching, do not seem as important if you are following along with my mom. I find the class and movements to be quite intuitive. When I follow along like this, I end up giving less corrections, and I experience the class in the way the students will, so the corrections I do make become more pertinent. It is a method to help with the minimalist point above.
Following my mom in this manner is also often a better way to help my mom give more energy to her movements than verbal instruction. She gets energy from seeing someone follow her—it’s a visual cue of sorts. If her movement could be a bit fuller, often all I have to do is make my movements a bit fuller, and she will pick up on that energy all without a word/criticism being said. I still sometimes need to signal to her to up the volume mid-movement, but most energy details can be helped just by following enthusiastically.
Finally, taking the class in this way also ends up being better for production. Because you are looking at the image on the camera through out the entire segment, you develop a better sense of what visual details are off or could be better. I am positive, for instance, you would have caught the fact that the couch and table were in the shot last week, if you had followed that segment through the iPhone screen.
3. Look at the back edge of the rug. This visual cue helps when you are trying to properly square the image. The rug is the main “performance area” so a clean, square view of this area is important for production quality. If you square the camera with the rug, you also naturally square the camera with the bookcase. This vantage point also helps you position the chair in the best manner.